Christ in all the scriptures The burnt offering Intelligence in worship

 Christ in all the scriptures

The burnt offering   Leviticus 1

Intelligence in worship  v5-6  "And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood round about on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces."

We remind ourselves that the burnt offering is not viewing the sinner approaching God in repentance, but the saint approaching God in worship.  He is not coming seeking forgiveness, rather he is coming with thankfulness for what God has done.  He views the sacrifice as that which has reconciled him to God, this is the positive side of our relationship with God.  He comes with intelligence.  He knows he is unworthy of God's mercy; he knows he must be assured of acceptance in the merit of another (in this case an animal sacrifice); he knows the animal must be killed, its blood shed, if he is to worship God.  A sacrifice without blemish will be insufficient, the beast must die, for he knows he deserved to die, and the beast is substituted in his stead.  He knows that God has accepted a sacrifice on his behalf.  Here is the crucial point of the offering, something that would imprint on his mind the reality of approach to God.  HE HAD TO KILL THE ANIMAL HIMSELF!  I don't suppose any of us would miss the implications of that.  Even to hardened men who were used to the slaughter of animals, the experience is not easily erased from the mind (thinks "this is instead of me, this is what should happen to me in the sight of a Holy God").  The reality of fellowship with God begins to sink in.  No frivolous thoughts here, no casual attitude here.  The trauma of this focuses the mind, and humbles the spirit.  The One who was sacrificed is no less than God Himself, who gave His all to satisfy the demands of righteousness, yet He must be slain, He must lay down His life for no one could take it from Him.

The priests collect the blood and sprinkle the altar, for without the blood there is no remission of sin, and there could be no reconciliation.  The offeror then flays the animal to remove the skin.  This became the possession of the priests according to Leviticus 7v8.  The rest of the animal was cut into pieces by the offeror and all placed on the altar for God.  This was no vague blanket offering of an entire bullock, but an appraisal of every part of it that was placed in order on the altar.  This is no glib approach, no ritualistic ceremony, this is a detailed, intelligent, offering to God.  The term "cut it into his pieces" suggests the process used by a butcher when dissecting an animal for sale of its various parts.  In this respect it becomes very graphic indeed.  They say one bullock, when cut into its various pieces, could feed over 900 people!  Such is the variety of the individual parts of the animal.   There are, apparently 18 different cuts of meat, ranging from brisket, chuck, fillet, onglet, rib-eye, rump, T-bone, shin, silverside, sirloin, skirt, topside, and multiple parts of each, to name most of them (apologies if you are reading this as a vegetarian!).  Butchers, restaurateurs, and housewives recognise the value of each individual part.  There is a phrase in 2nd Timothy 2v15, "...rightly dividing the word of truth"-(literally cutting into its pieces, valuing each individual truth).   It is to understand the small details of what is an unblemished, perfect offering to God.  The Bible is a revelation of Christ in every detail.  We should attempt to be less general in our worship, and more specific in detail, as God wants to savour the pleasing aroma that rises from Him.  Particularly, in the four gospels we have endless detail of His perfect devotion to God.  Mass reading of scripture is good, detailed reading is better.  In our worship, we bring Christ in all the infinite worth of His person.  He brings pleasure to God, He is enough to fill our hearts.  God wants us to distinguish and appreciate each part.  We should distinguish the different aspects of the offering, and so become more intelligent in worship.